Small Gods (1992)
Small Gods is a 1992 science fiction book written by Terry Pratchett and Ray Friesen.
Brutha is a novice in the Church of the Great God Om: a strong back, a perfect memory, and not a single doubt. Then Om himself turns up, an all-powerful deity currently stuck in the body of a one-eyed tortoise, able to reach exactly one believer. Around the pair, the theocracy of Omnia runs on Inquisitors, thumbscrews, and certainty. Terry Pratchett uses the Discworld to weigh belief against institutions, prophets against zealots, and the plain decency of one slow young man against an entire empire built in a god's name. Warm, furious, and very funny.
Quick answers
What is Small Gods about?
Brutha is a novice in the Church of the Great God Om: a strong back, a perfect memory, and not a single doubt. Then Om himself turns up, an all-powerful deity currently stuck in the body of a one-eyed tortoise, able to reach exactly one believer. Around the pair, the theocracy of Omnia runs on Inquisitors, thumbscrews, and certainty. Terry Pratchett uses the Discworld to weigh belief against institutions, prophets against zealots, and the plain decency of one slow young man against an entire empire built in a god's name. Warm, furious, and very funny.
When was Small Gods published?
Small Gods was published in 1992.
Who made Small Gods?
Small Gods was written by Terry Pratchett and Ray Friesen.
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Small Gods in our writing
- Companion guide: Discworld: The Complete Guide to Terry Pratchett's Flat Planet
A few thoughts on Small Gods
Try Good Omens next, the Pratchett-and-Gaiman comedy where Heaven and Hell run as equally hopeless bureaucracies. For the same nerve to skewer piety and certainty, Monty Python's Life of Brian delivers the religious satire with a straight face and louder laughs. Both share this book's fondness for ordinary people trapped inside enormous, self-important institutions.
Faith that outlives the institution built to control it
Small Gods strands an all-powerful god inside a one-eyed tortoise, able to reach exactly one believer, while his church runs on Inquisitors and thumbscrews. Good Omens carries the same warm, furious take on religion turned institutional. BioShock's Rapture and God of War's pantheon both show what happens when devotion curdles into control, and Avatar: Fire and Ash sets real belief against an empire that only sees resources.